The present invention relates to the field of cosmetology and dermatology, more particularly cosmetics for the care of the skin and nails and hair, and has for its object the use, for cosmetic, dermatologic and/or pharmaceutical applications, of at least one proteic extract of seeds of a plant of the genus Moringa, as well as a cosmetic and/or pharmaceutical composition containing at least one such extract.
The genus Moringa comprises some 14 species of plants (of which particularly Moringa peregrina, M. aptera, M. concanensis, M. drouhardii, M. hildebrandtii, M. longituba), among which Moringa pterygosperma (synonym: Moringa oleifera) is the best known.
It is a tree that grows rapidly and which adapts very well to variable conditions, spread throughout the tropics, in Asia, Africa and South America. The fruits are 30 to 50 cm long, hanging like drumsticks, from which comes the English name xe2x80x9cdrumstick treexe2x80x9d, and its green pods are used as vegetables throughout the world. As a result, the seeds are rarely left to ripen for the production of oil.
The different parts of the tree (leaves, roots, root bark, flowers, seeds) are used in traditional medicine in the countries where it is found.
The seeds of Moringa are characterized by the presence of an oil whose content varies between 21 and 53% according to the species and maturity of the seeds.
For the species Moringa oleifera, the contents mentioned in the literature range from 21 to 34%.
The comparison of the oils of the seeds of Moringa oleifera, Mr. peregrina, M. concanensis and M. drouhardii show a very similar fatty acid content, these oils all having a very high content of oleic acid (71 to 78%) and saturated fatty acids.
Behenic acid (C22H44 O2) is the saturated fatty acid typical of Moringa oil (content 2.6 to 4.7%).
Because of its excellent stability against oxidation and its good properties as a perfume fixative, Moringa oil, also called Behen or Ben oil, was in ancient civilizations the oil most used by the producers of unguents for cosmetic and religious uses.
This oil was used by cosmetic formulators until the nineteenth century and its use has been recently xe2x80x9crediscoveredxe2x80x9d.
In addition to their oil content, Moringa seeds have recently claimed the attention of researchers because they are used conventionally for the clarification of water and thus have an economic potential for the treatment and purification of water in developing countries.
It has moreover been shown that the seeds of six species of Moringa that are the most frequent and cultivated contain flocculent compounds.
The compounds responsible for this activity have been isolated and identified: they are compounds of proteic nature (see particularly the articles: xe2x80x9cIsolation and characterization of a flocculating protein from Moringa oleifera lamxe2x80x9d, by U. Gassenschmidt, K. D. Jany, B. Tausche and H. R. Niebergall, Biochimica and biophysics acta, 1243:477-481, 1995xe2x80x94xe2x80x9cActive agents and mechanism of coagulation of turbid waters using Moringa oleiferaxe2x80x9d, of A. Ndabigengesere, K. Subba Narasiah and B. G. Talbot, Water research, 29, 2:703-710, 1995).
From delipidated flour of Moringa oleifera seeds, these proteins have been extracted in a buffered aqueous medium, then isolated by cation exchange chromatography.
These flocculent proteins are eluted with an NaCl gradient and are constituted by three active fractions called MO1, MO2, and MO3.
A second chromatographic step permits separating MO2 into three new active fractions called (MO2.1, MO2.2 and MO2.3).
With PAGE electrophoresis under non-denaturing conditions, MO2.1, MO2.2 seem to be homogeneous whilst MO2.3 is constituted by several proteins.
However, with SDS-PAGE, two bands corresponding to the PM 6.5 kDa and 7 kDa are observed for the proteins MO2.1 and MO2.2, which thus would be dimers.
Isoelectrofocalization shows that the isoelectric point of these flocculent proteins is 10.
The amino acid composition of MO2.1 has been determined and shows that this protein contains 60 amino acids with a high content of glutamine (15 residues), arginine (7 residues) and proline (7 residues), the end terminal being blocked by a pyroglutamate function.
The inventors of the present invention have discovered in an unexpected and surprising manner, that the proteic extracts of Moringa seeds, known for their turbid water clarifying properties, also have new and original properties whose beneficial effects on the skin and nails and hair, associated with very high tolerance, renders them directly usable in care cosmetology and in pharmacology, in particular for dermatological applications.
Thus, the principal object of the present invention consists in the use of at least one proteic fraction extracted from seeds of a plant of the genus Moringa belonging to the family of the Moringaceae, as the active principal, alone or in association with at least one other active principal, for the preparation of a cosmetic and/or pharmaceutical composition for topical application for the skin and/or the nails and hair.
The new properties of these proteic extracts flow directly from their particular nature and properties, particularly their basic isoelectric point and their flocculent capacity.
There have particularly been noted an emollient effect, conditioning and hydrating effects because of the great substantivity and chelating effects, rendering them suitable in the field of anti-pollution activity.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the proteic fraction or fractions consist in one or more extracts of the plant Moringa oleifera, this or these proteic fraction or fractions containing, based on the dry extract, a protein content comprised between 0.01% and 100% by weight, preferably of about 45% by weight.
Preferably, the proteic fraction or fractions is or are extracted with water or an aqueous solution, particularly saline solutions at different pHs, as the case may be by means of an ultrasonic generator.
Thus, the proteic fraction or fractions is or are constituted by one or more aqueous extracts, saline medium extracts with different pHs, or a buffered medium of whole or decorticated seeds, partially or totally delipitized, by a proteic concentrate, by purified proteins or by a mixture of at least two of the mentioned constituents and having an isoelectric point greater than 7, preferably comprised between 8 and 12.
The proteic fraction or fractions utilized as active principal are preferably obtained by:
precipitation at the isoelectric point at a pH comprised between 8 and 12
ion exchange chromatography.
an extraction process selected from the group formed by affinity chromatography, gel filtration, ultrafiltration, solvent precipitation, of salts such as ammonium sulfate or the like or else by precipitation with the aid of organic polymers or by temperature variation.
Moreover, it has been determined that, in the case of precipitation at the isoelectric point, obtaining the proteic fraction or fractions is promoted by a temperature below ambient temperature, particularly by a temperature of about +4xc2x0 C.